Desserts & Baking

Crispy summery ice cream loaf

By
11 March 2026
4 to 6
Medium
1.5 hours, plus overnight freezing time
30 minutes

There’s something about Eid that just makes you reach for the phyllo and to make baklava. It’s sticky, sweet deliciousness. We’ve made it almost every year that I’ve almost started thinking that it’s the only thing to make with phyllo. But it’s not, there are so many wonderful possibilities. This cake uses phyllo, ice cream and seasonal fruit to up the ante on your Eid table this year.

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Ingredients

Method
    For the syrup:

  • ¾ cups water
  • 210 g white sugar
  • 1 cinnamon or cassia stick
  • 2 cloves
  • 1/2 lemon, juiced
  • 2 T honey
  • 1 t orange blossom water (if available)
  • 1 x 500 g box Woolworths frozen phyllo pastry, thawed
  • 180 g butter, melted
  • 1.5 litres vanilla ice cream, softened
  • 1 x 115 g tub Woolworths granadilla pulp, or 6 fresh granadillas
  • 800 g mixed fresh berries (raspberries and blackberries)

Method

Ingredients

1. To make the syrup, boil the water, sugar, cinnamon, cloves, lemon juice and honey until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and add the orange blossom water. Chill while making the remaining elements.

2. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Unroll the phyllo and brush each sheet with butter, layering them back over each other. Measure your 22cm x 11cm loaf tin
and cut the phyllo to fit. (A silicone loaf pan works best.) Then, cut the phyllo into strips at 2 cm intervals along the long side and stack on top of each other. Place on a baking tray and pour over any leftover melted butter. You want about 3 “layers” for assembly. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and immediately pour over the cooled sugar syrup. Allow to cool completely.

3. Line the base and sides of the loaf pan with baking paper. Add the first layer of baked phyllo, taking care not to break it.

4. Divide the ice cream in half and spread one half onto the phyllo layer. Top with half the granadilla and press in some berries (it doesn’t have to look pretty, squish them in, it’s all about the flavour).

5. Top with a second layer of phyllo and the remaining ice cream. Repeat, ending with the last layer of phyllo. Wrap the tin in clingfilm and freeze overnight.

6. To serve, unmould and arrange on a cake platter, then top with fresh or frozen fruit to make it pretty. Slice and serve. It will keep for 3–4 days in the freezer.

Find more Eid recipes here

Videographer: Romy Wilson
Photographer: Jan Ras
Food Assistant: Bianca Jones

Fehmz

Recipe by: Fehmz

Fehmz is a South African food content creator. She shares recipes and snippets of her life on her social media. Her debut cookbook Damn Good Food was released in 2025.

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